ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Arrest warrants and criminal complaints have been issued for newly elected Sunland Park Mayor Daniel Salinas and acting police chief Luis Monarez in connection with their alleged involvement in an extortion attempt aimed at forcing a mayoral candidate to drop his bid for office, according to a prosecutor with the Doña Ana County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutor Steven Blankenship said Monday that search warrants have also been issued for Monarez’s personnel records and his work and home computers.

Copies of the criminal complaints and warrants were not immediately available Monday.

Monarez is the eighth person arrested in the southern New Mexico town since allegations surfaced several weeks ago that now Mayor-Elect Daniel Salinas and others tried to force his opponent out of the race with a secretly recorded video of the man getting a topless lap dance.